Watch Me
by AgentRez
Summary: After taking Command, Olivia struggles with missing Fitz and wondering if he could still love the person she has become. Meanwhile, a surprising turn of events causes Liv to question who she can trust, and tensions between the Gladiators rises as they discover how dark their former boss has gone. My ideas for how season 7 should go.
1. Chapter 1

I have been trying all summer to write a post-season 6 fanfic, and it's taken this long to do even one chapter because I can't decide how I want certain things to go. Definite Olitz end game but I will say upfront that the end game is not for her to quit her job and move to Vermont. My preferred end game is for Fitz to help her remember the person she used to be, the person he fell in love with - the person who "only used her magic for good" - and find a way to be that person again and use her position to make a difference on a larger scale now that she has more power.

The story name is based on the name of the first episode of Episode 7, because this is how I want season 7 to go.

This part starts with a continuation of the conversation between Olivia and Cyrus at the end of season 6.

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

* * *

 **LINCOLN MEMORIAL - NIGHT OF MELLIE'S INAUGURATION**

"How does it feel to be the most powerful person in the world?" Cyrus asks.

"Right...it feels right," Olivia says.

"You don't seem too convinced," Cyrus says skeptically.

"No, I am," Olivia insists, not very convincingly.

"Look, I get it, Liv. It's only natural to feel a little squeamish about how far you had to go to get here. Honestly, I'd be concerned if you didn't."

"I'm not squeamish," Liv insists, insulted at his characterization. "I know that this job entails and I know the burden it carries. Turning two kids into orphans is not a decision I made lightly, but it needed to be done."

"I never said it didn't," Cyrus says. "Come on, Liv. We both know I'm the last person who's in any position to judge."

Olivia nods, her defenses coming down a bit as she realizes they are in the same place now. For years, Cyrus has insisted that playing dirty is the only way to survive in this world, and it's both liberating and depressing to finally accept that he's right and abandon all pretenses of being better.

"She said she loved him," Olivia muses. Cyrus looks at her questioningly. "Luna. She insisted she loved Frankie, and she as crazy as it sounds, I think she was telling the truth. As much of a monster as she was, I think..."

"Even monsters are capable of love," Cyrus finishes for her.

"Yeah."

"You miss him?" Cyrus asks sympathetically.

Olivia nods. There's no point in denying it, not after putting it out there for the whole world to see. "It's weird, being in the Oval and realizing it's not his office anymore," she admits.

"You're not alone in feeling that way," he says. "You did the right thing, though, letting him go."

"It wasn't my decision," Olivia says flatly.

"Oh, come on. You could have convinced him to stay if you really wanted to. But you didn't. You didn't want him to see this side of you, the side we both know he doesn't have the stomach for."

Olivia sighs. Cyrus can tell she's holding something back.

"What? What is it?" he asks.

"My father...wanted Fitz to run B613," she says, her voice starting to crack a little.

"What?"

"Fitz was going to stay to run B613 and I changed his mind. I knew that it would destroy him and I couldn't..."

"So you took matters into your own hands?"

"Sort of. I wasn't planning on having Mellie sign the same order...I didn't decide that until later."

"I'm assuming he doesn't know?"

Olivia shakes her head. "No."

"You did the right thing," Cyrus repeats. "It would have destroyed him. He's too good for this world. I know it hurts but you did the right thing."

"I know," Olivia says, blinking back tears. "It just...I've let him go so many times but this time it feels different. Even when we weren't speaking he was still there, still here. But now he's gone, and..."

"...and suddenly the world feels a whole lot colder, doesn't it?" Cyrus asks.

"Yeah," Olivia says sadly, shivering as a cold drift of air coincidentally passes through.


	2. Chapter 2

_At long last, here is the next installment. Sorry so short - I will try to add more this week. I may end up doing some time jumps back and forth, so to make things (hopefully) less confusing, scene is marked with the number of days into Mellie's presidency. Reviews are appreciated._

 _P.S. The part with Joke here is designed to give a wishful thinking explanation for that icky promo footage. I am not now nor have I ever been an Olake shipper._

 **DAY 2, EARLY MORNING (day after inauguration)**

 _Olivia wakes up with a jump when she hears an unexpected knock on her door._

 _"Jake, what are you doing here?"_

 _"You need to make a decision about James Novak," he says as he enters her bedroom._

 _"James Novak?" she asks, confused._

 _"He knows what we did to Luna Vargas. He's going live with his story tomorrow_ _. He needs to be taken care of."_

 _"You already took care of it. You already killed James," Liv says groggily, utterly confused. She barely notices as Jake starts stripping down to his boxers._

 _"No, I didn't. Not in this world. In this world, you're Command, and you have to make the tough calls. See, the thing about being Command is that people don't do your dirty work for you unless you order them to."_

 _Olivia leans against the wall near the door to her apartment, a terrified look on her face._

 _Suddenly, she is dressed and sitting across from her father at a restaurant, the same restaurant where she tried to have him arrested right before she was kidnapped._

 _"Dad, I don't know what to do," she says. "I need you to tell me what to do."_

 _Rowan shakes his head. "You are on your own, Olivia," he says menacingly. "You are on your own."_

 _The next thing Olivia knows, she is standing with Jake in the same quarry where they found Huck, except this time, he is showing her where he buried James._

 _Suddenly, she finds herself in the White House residence, wearing the shirt she was wearing the night she and Fitz had that horrible fight (in 509) with the coat she was wearing in the quarry scene in 609. "Where were you tonight?" Fitz demands._

 _"Something came up," she said. "I tried to make it to your dinner, I really tried," she pleads, terrified that she will find out where she really was._

 _"Olivia, DO NOT LIE TO ME!" Fitz orders._

 _Just as in the real episode, she runs into the closet and scrambles around, opening all of the drawers, desperately looking for something. In the background, she can hear Luna Vargas pleading "I loved Frankie. I just didn't want to be first lady..."_

 _Fitz comes up behind her as she is rummaging through the closet. Except this time, she doesn't find Mellie's hooch. She finds a gun, and points it at him._

 _"Liv, what...what happened to you?" he stares at her in disbelief, shocked as he realizes the woman he loves is about to betray him in the worst way._

 _"I'm sorry," she says tearfully._

Liv jumps up in bed with a gasp, shaking as she looks around her room, eventually realizing it was all a dream. A dream that felt way too real.

After a few minutes, she picks up her phone.

"Huck, I need you to do something for me," she says shakily.

* * *

 _Sorry to end here, but I am swamped at work and you know I like suspense. FWIW, if you think you know what Liv is asking Huck to do, you probably have it wrong. Honest reviews appreciated._


	3. Chapter 3

_Two updates in one day! This chapter focuses mostly on the Gladiators and how their relationship with Liv and each other is changing. I thought it would be interesting to see Liv's transformation through the eyes of her old team (especially Quinn) just like in episode 101.  
_

* * *

 **DAY 2, MORNING**

Quinn finishes throwing up on the side of the road as Charlie stands behind her, their car pulled over with blinking lights. He tries to hold her hand but she pushes him away.

"Get back in the car before someone sees an empty car and carjacks us!" she demands.

"Nobody's going to carjack us," Charlie says, rolling his eyes as he goes back to the driver's seat and waits.

Eventually she gets back in the car.

"What are you doing?" she asks when she sees him turning around.

"I'm taking you home," he says.

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not. I'm fine. It's just morning sickness."

"Come on. It's not like you'll be missing anything. We don't have any clients, Huck just texted that he's not coming in, and you're not feeling well. Would it kill you to take a day off?"

"Yes, it would. I need to focus on getting the word out that we're still open for business...what do you mean, Huck's not coming in?"

"He's doing something for Liv."

"Did he say what?" Quinn asks, exasperated.

"No."

"Can you find out?"

"Okay, okay. After I take you home," Charlie says with a grin. Quinn just throws her head back and groans.

 **DAY 2, AFTERNOON**

Quinn comes into the office, the color having returned to her face. "Where is everyone?"

"Huck's back but he's holed up in his office. He's acting weird. And Abby's out doing some press."

"Press? What kind of press?"

"Something for the White House, I guess. Liv came by earlier and asked for her help. If I had to guess, it has to do with getting the press to stop talking about her big public smoochfest yesterday. But what do I know? They don't tell me anything. Abby wouldn't even let me tell Liv about the baby."

"Are we getting paid for these jobs?" Quinn demands. "Or does Liv just think she can borrow whoever she wants whenever she wants?"

"I don't know," Charlie says again. "Like I said, nobody tells me anything."

Quinn shakes her head, exasperated at the situation. After a moment she goes into Huck's office, where she sees him staring at his screen but not actually doing anything, looking like he is almost in a trance.

"Do you need something?" Huck asks curtly. Quinn looks hurt by his cold reception.

"Look, I know you're upset about the baby, but..."

"I'm not...I'm happy for you," he insists.

"Uh huh. Then why are you acting like this?"

"I'm not acting like anything."

"Yes, you are."

"You've got to stop asking questions," he warns. Suddenly she feels like someone rewound the clock seven years to when she was still the new girl peppering him for information instead of the girl with the big office.

"Huck, what is going on?" she demands. "You're freaking me out. What the hell happened to you this morning?"

"I told Charlie. I had to help Liv with something."

"Help her with what?"

"Uh, upgrading her encryption on her phone and installing secure comms at her apartment."

"Okay...doesn't the Secret Service have people and protocols for that?"

"I told you to stop asking questions!" he snaps. Quinn recoils, shocked at the way he is treating her.

"I'm sorry," he says softly.

"Huck, what's wrong?" she asks gently. "Did something happen to you? To your family?"

He shakes his head.

"Liv asked me to do something...something I really, really don't want to do."

"What did she ask you?" Quinn asks.

"I can't...I can't talk about it. Please, just don't ask any more questions," he begs.

Quinn reluctantly backs away. After a moment, her confusion turns to anger, and she storms out of the office.

 **WHITE HOUSE - 2 HOURS LATER**

Quinn sits on the couch in a waiting area, irritated.

"Ms. Pope will just be a little while longer," the secretary says. "May I suggest you make an appointment next time?"

"Okay, thanks," Quinn says, trying to mask her annoyance at suddenly having to wait so long just to speak to her former boss. Her annoyance is placated somewhat when she hears Liv yell "send her in."

"I'm sorry," she says, turning to Quinn. "I didn't know you were here. I'll put you and Huck on the list for hard passes."

"Um, okay, thanks," Quinn says, her anger momentarily forgotten as she gets swept away by the upgrade in status. Liv hears a noise on her phone and glances down at it, looking disappointed after a moment.

"That's your OPA mail ping."

"Huck set it up so I could keep the address on a separate server in case anyone tries to reach me there."

"You know you can't use that for government communications, right?"

"I know."

"Okay, it's just...during the election..."

"Voters seemed to care more about what e-mail address Mellie used when she was in the Senate than her plans for the country, I know," Liv says, exasperated.

[Author's note: Sorry, couldn't resist :D]

"What are you doing here?" Liv asks in a friendly tone. "Did Abby call you for backup?" She holds up the bottle of scotch that was waiting for her in her office (I'm assuming Fitz left it for her but they never said) to offer Quinn a drink.

"No thanks," Quinn says curtly. "And no, I didn't come here with Abby. In fact, last I checked Abby works for me now."

"I know that," Liv says, caught off guard by Quinn's tone.

"No, I don't think you do," Quinn says, determined to hold her ground.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't recall you asking me if you could borrow her."

"I was going to, but you weren't there when I came by earlier. Charlie said you weren't feeling well."

"You could have called."

"I didn't think I needed your permission." Quinn notices Liv checking her phone again.

"And I guess you didn't think you needed my permission before you gave Huck some super secret job that has him more shaken up than I've seen him since he was cowering in the corner saying 752?" Quinn says angrily.

Liv looks regretful when she hears this. She was afraid of that happening. "Quinn..." she says softly.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Quinn demands.

Suddenly Liv goes from looking apologetic to being defiant.

"What I asked Huck to do is between me and Huck and it doesn't concern you," Liv says testily. "And you would be wise to remember that you might be running the firm now, but running the firm won't do you much good if potential clients think you're on the outs with the White House chief of staff, now would it?"

Quinn recoils, shocked at Liv's change in tone. "Seriously? Is that a threat?"

"Think of it as a friendly reminder. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a new administration to get up and running and I really don't have time to deal with your petty little attempt to mark your turf."

Quinn looks stunned, staring at Liv in disbelief before backing away.

"Quinn?" Liv calls after her. Quinn turns around.

"Send me a bill for their time," Liv says. She intends it as a peace offering, realizing she was too harsh, but Quinn doesn't take it that way.

* * *

 _I hope you liked this chapter. For those getting impatient for Olitz, Fitz will be back in either the next chapter or the one after. Reviews are appreciated and I don't mind constructive criticism at all._


	4. Chapter 4

_I didn't get a lot of reviews on the last two chapters, so I am hoping you like this one better. This one is definitely more Olitz centric than the last one. To the person who complained that Liv is hard to like, I don't disagree but I am trying to write her the way she is on the show right now. My goal is to ultimately have her remember the person she used to be and fight to go back to being that person, but it doesn't happen overnight and I want to stay true to the show. That said, I think you will find her more likeable in this chapter._

 _Also, I got the idea about Liv not knowing how to contact Fitz from loveoverpride, who wrote a great post-season 6 fanfiction that you should also read after reviewing this one. :)_

* * *

 **DAY 2 - EVENING**

Olivia is sitting in her office at the White House, watching Abby's interview on TV.

 _"Now, I'm told that this did not come as a total suprise to Mrs...er, President Grant, that she was aware that her ex-husband and Olivia Pope had resumed their affair. Is it fair to say..."_

 _"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there, Noah," Abby interjects. "I have to take issue with your use of the word 'affair'. The president and the former president have been divorced for two years. I don't think you can really call his relationship with Olivia Pope an affair at this point."_

Olivia smiles, impressed at how good Abby has become at this.

 _"So it is a relationship?" Ashley follows up._

 _"I don't know what they're calling it. To be honest, I don't think they know," Abby responds._

 _"Fair enough. So as I'm sure you know, there's been some speculation that the very public split between the former president and Ms. Pope two years ago was just for show, so that Ms. Pope could run now-President Grant's campaign. Is there any truth to those rumors?"_

 _Abby chuckles. "No, absolutely not. Trust me, it was very real, and very painful for both of them."_

 _"Now, I know you're close with both the former president and Olivia Pope. I imagine that put you in a tough position...did you feel pressure to paint Olivia Pope in a negative light in order to protect the president?"_

 _"Not after Olivia left, no. The president...er, the former president was very clear that_ _any member of his staff who uttered a single negative word about her to the press would be fired," she says._ Olivia smiles when she hears this.

 _"Do you know if the former president and Olivia Pope have spoken since their very public display of affection on the White House lawn yesterday?"_

 _"I don't know if they've spoken by phone. But I know he's been busy texting now that he's not prohibited by Secret Service protocols from doing so."_

Olivia looks surprised when Abby says that. She glances again at her phone, which still has no new messages.

 ** _20 MINUTES LATER_**

Abby knocks on the door to Liv's office, her former office.

"I just wanted to let you know I was heading out. I think my work here is done," Abby says.

Olivia nods. "Thank you," she says sincerely.

"Don't mention it. I should be thanking you," Abby says.

"Why?"

"Because the press was too busy trying to figure out if you were sleeping over these past few weeks to notice how out of the loop I was."

Olivia smiles. "Glad to be of service," she says.

"I doubt my interview did much to put out the fire, but hopefully it at least put an end to those ridiculous rumors that the breakup two years ago was a sham. I didn't want to say it on TV, but I have the phone records of him calling me at 2 in the morning to prove it."

Olivia laughs.

"Don't worry. It'll blow over in a few days when the press finds something new to chew on," Abby reassures her.

"I know. I'd invite you to stay and have a drink, but first you'd have to call Quinn and ask permission," Liv says sarcastically.

"What? Since when?"

"Since she came into my office a few hours ago and bit my head off for borrowing you and Huck," Liv says.

Abby shakes her head. "Quinn's just...stressed about trying to run the firm on her own," Abby says.

Olivia scoffs. "Is there a reason she doesn't want me to know she's pregnant?"

"Was I that obvious when I tried to stop Charlie from telling you?" Abby asks sheepishly.

"Kind of," Liv says.

"Okay, I have a confession. It's not Quinn that's keeping it from you, it's me. I told her not to tell you last night."

"Why?"

"I just thought with Fitz leaving yesterday the way he did...in light of your, er, history...I told Quinn it wasn't the best time to tell you. I didn't tell her why," Abby rushes to add. "Look, I'm sorry. I just thought it might upset you."

Olivia smiles sadly. "Don't worry about it," she says.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Abby asks gently.

"I'm fine," Liv insists. "Really."

Abby doesn't look convinced, but she knows not to push. "So how do you think the American people would react if they knew that the former leader of the free world is incapable of sending a coherent text?" she says with a giggle.

"That bad?" Liv asks.

"Yeah...wait, he hasn't been texting you too?"

"No."

Abby looks shocked. "I'm sorry. When I said that to Noah and Ashley I just assumed...he really hasn't been texting you?"

"No." Olivia laughs unexpectedly.

"What?"

"I just realized I don't even have his number," she says, giggling at how crazy that is.

"What do you mean you don't have his number?"

"I mean I saw someone from Secret Service issue him a new phone yesterday morning, and I didn't think to ask what his new number was."

"Well, lucky for you, he's been texting me non-stop since this morning, so here you go," Abby says, writing it down on a sticky note.

"It's okay. If he wanted me to have his new number he would have made sure I had it. We agreed we had to say goodbye," Liv insists.

Abby shakes her head and laughs. "Then why have you been checking your phone every five minutes to see if he's contacted you?"

"I am not."

"Yes you are."

Olivia buries her head in her hands, because she can't deny Abby is right.

"Come on. He's probably sitting there in his little cave in Vermont wondering whether he should contact you."

"No he's not. It's not like it was before, Abby. He doesn't need me like he did before."

"Well, that's good, right?"

"Yeah, it's good," Liv agrees. She knows it's good, that he was too dependent on her before, but she can't deny that it also hurts.

"That said, I still think he's driving himself crazy trying to figure out if he should contact you. In fact, I know he is because he keeps texting me saying he wants to talk, that he feels badly about how things ended between us. But he had ample opportunity to talk to me before he left. He's texting me now because he wants information about you. So please, as a personal favor, call him so he stops bugging me and I can move on with my life. Or if you don't want to call him, send him a text. Just don't be put off by what he texts back. He's still getting used to auto-correct."

* * *

 **QPA PARKING GARAGE - DAY 2 - EVENING**

Quinn gets out of her car and is startled when Rowan approaches her.

"What...what are you doing here?"

"I'd like to hire you. You are looking for clients, are you not?"

"Yes, we are. But we're not quite desperate enough to get in bed with the devil yet, so no thanks."

Rowan chuckles. "I'm going to ignore that little slight, Ms. Perkins, because I think you'll change your mind when you hear what I have to say."

* * *

 **OLIVIA'S APARTMENT - TWO HOURS LATER**

Olivia takes a sip of wine, then stares around her empty apartment before glancing at her phone. Once again, no new messages.

After hesitating for a long minute, she digs into her purse and pulls out the number Abby wrote down for her, typing it into her phone twice and deleting it. Finally, she types it a third time and opens her secure messaging app. After hesitating for another few moments, she types "Hi" into the message box and hits send.

She takes another sip of wine, disappointed when she doesn't get a response right away.

Just as she takes her last sip and gets up, resigned, her phone makes a noise.

She looks down at her phone and a big smile breaks out on her face when she sees his response: "Hi".

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Either way, I would love to know what you think of it. The next chapter will skip ahead a few weeks, although I may use some flashbacks and/or extended scenes. The next chapter will feature what I hope will be a really cute Olitz phone call and a little bit of Fitz's struggle to adapt to domestic life. Future chapters will also provide more clues on what Rowan wants to hire Quinn for as well as what Liv made Huck promise._


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. This chapter jumps ahead a couple months, to right before the 100 day mark. I know that in real life, the president gives his/her first state of the union address about a month in, but for the sake of the story pretend it's two months in. It wouldn't be the biggest political liberty the show has taken. Also, I realized after I wrote the last chapter that the death of a vice president would probably wipe the Olitz kiss out of the headlines, so just assume Luna's death hadn't been made public yet. Not that important to the story but I'm a continuity freak._

* * *

 **WHITE HOUSE - DAY 50**

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Cyrus says. "You're saying give up?"

"No, I'm saying we need to be smart. Picking this fight with the military now is not smart."

"What happened to 'we need to be bold'"? Cyrus asks. "Eight years ago, you were all about being bold, and using the first state of the union to push the envelope."

"We are being bold. We've got student loan forgiveness, tax reform, infrastructure investment, a minimum wage hike that goes squarely against Republican orthodoxy..."

"And that's great, but it doesn't mean we can't also talk about justice for military rape victims. The public will rally around it, and I can quietly signal to the generals that we don't intend to do anything too radical too soon."

"Which of course one of them will immediately leak to the press, and she'll...you'll look like an amateur," she says to Mellie.

"Thank you for remembering I'm actually in the room," Mellie says sarcastically. "Do I get any say in this?"

"Of course. But you have to think about..."

"Yes, Madam President, it's your decision," Cyrus interjects.

"Thank you. Liv, I don't understand why you're so opposed to it. Two years ago, you were pestering Fitz nonstop to do something about this."

"Yes, I was. The difference is, Fitz is a veteran. And male. And had been commander in chief for six years at that point. Fitz had the credibility with the military to get this done. You don't. Not yet," she says bluntly.

"Fine. We'll take it out," Mellie agrees reluctantly.

"Madam President..." Cyrus protests.

"I said it's out," Mellie says, exasperated. "What's next?"

Cyrus glares at Liv before turning to the next part of the speech.

* * *

 **FITZ'S HOUSE IN VERMONT - DAY 50 - EVENING**

Fitz is in his kitchen in Vermont, struggling to figure out how to use the food processor to chop up carrots.

"Damn it," he says when he realizes he has pureed them instead. He dumps the puree into the garbage, discouraged. But then his phone rings, and he smiles when he sees who's calling.

"Hey you," he says with a grin.

"Hey you?" Olivia asks questioningly.

"Eh, I thought I'd mix it up a bit."

"How are you?" she asks softly.

"Fine, except I just lost another battle with the food processor trying to chop up some carrots. The first time they sprayed all over the place because I didn't close it properly, and the second time they stayed in the container but turned into mush."

Olivia laughs. "Try hitting the button in little spurts instead of holding it down continuously," she suggests gently.

Fitz looks surprised. "Who knew you were such an expert?"

"Just because I don't have time to cook doesn't mean I don't know how," Olivia says with mock indignance. "Unlike some people, I didn't have a trust fund to supplement the meager living allowance that comes with law school loans."

"Ouch," Fitz says with a chuckle. "It's embarrassing, really. Eight years as the leader of the free world, and I can't figure out how to chop up carrots."

"You never had a reason or opportunity to learn," Olivia says reassuringly. "I think it's admirable that you're trying."

"Oh, come on. Are you honestly telling me that you and Mellie don't sit there in the Oval at night drinking that disgusting moonshine stuff and laughing about how useless I am at all this, and why don't I just hire a chef and a housekeeper?"

Olivia laughs. "Honestly, no," she says. The truth is, she doesn't sit in the Oval drinking with Mellie much at all. For someone who wanted "the Oval" so badly, she ironically avoids spending more time than necessary in the actual Oval Office.

"How's the State of the Union coming?"

"It's...coming. Cyrus is trying to manipulate Mellie into picking a fight with the generals over the protocols for prosecution of military rape so that they'll view her as naive and emotional and turn to him as the experienced voice of reason."

Fitz looks surprised. "Hold on. Are you telling me you _don't_ think she should push to change the protocols?"

"No, not yet. Any new president has to earn the respect of the military. Being a woman makes that task 1,000 times harder. She doesn't need this fight, not now."

"Uh huh," Fitz says, not sure how to respond.

"What?" Liv asks, sensing he's holding back.

"Nothing. I'm just...a little surprised. You were so passionate about the issue when you represented the...Ensign Martin, was that her name?"

"Ensign Amy Martin, yes. And I'm still passionate about it. But it's my job to be smart and strategic about pushing Mellie's agenda. Do you honestly think it's smart for her to try to change over 200 years of military doctrine in her first state of the union speech?" Olivia asks, her tone more defensive than necessary.

"No, probably not. It's just...never mind. I'm sure you're right. You're always right." He looks a little troubled as he says this, but doesn't want to pick a fight.

Olivia smiles. "Other than doing battle with the food processor, how was your day?" she asks, eager to change the subject.

"Good. I finally reached a deal with Secret Service to let me fly my plane," he tells her. "They're assigning two agents who are certified pilots to act as backup, and they made arrangements for me to land at Andrews instead of a civilian airport when I come to DC for added security."

"That's great, Fitz," Olivia says, knowing how much he missed flying while serving his sentence in the "crown jewel of the American prison system."

"I had an amusing experience trying to call the service center in Newburgh to see about getting some after-market upgrades to the plane. The employees kept hanging up because they thought it was a prank call. Finally I gave up and had Marcus call for me."

Olivia chuckles.

"If Mellie doesn't succeed at changing the FAA regulations to prevent it I'm going to fly Karen down to DC at the end of next week so she can spend the weekend with Mellie and Teddy and be there for the state of the union."

"Are you just dropping her off at Andrews, or are you going to come into town?" Olivia asks cautiously.

"I wasn't planning on it, not this time. I figured three days before the State of the Union wasn't the best time to make my first real visit back. I don't want to overshadow Mellie."

"Good point," Olivia agrees, but her face conveys how disappointed she is.

* * *

 **DAY 51 - DAY TIME**

Quinn and Abby are sitting in Quinn's office going over balance sheets.

"Quinn, I hate to say it, but you're going to have to make nice with Liv or close the doors," Abby says as she goes over the finances. "We can't afford to have her keep freezing us out."

"We're not struggling because Liv's freezing us out if she is even freezing us out. We're struggling because nobody knows who I am. Which we can fix by putting your name on the door instead of mine."

"It's not going to solve our problems," Abby insists. "I may have the name recognition, sort of, but all the power I had was in the previous administration. Having access to the White House chief of staff is what's going to get us clients, not my name. If you hadn't picked that fight with Liv, she would have hired us to help find and vet special guests for the State of the Union, and we'd be invited to that state dinner next week, and..."

"So what, I'm supposed to just roll over and say that she can commandeer my team whenever she wants in exchange for that access."

"You're being melodramatic. She came by and asked for my help when you weren't here. She paid us for my time, didn't she?"

"That's not the point."

"Yes, it is the point. And the bigger point is that nobody's paid us for anything since then."

"No, it's not. The point is, she thinks she's still running this place," Quinn complains.

Before Abby can respond, her phone rings. Abby looks seriously annoyed when she sees who's calling.

"Just answer it," Quinn urges. "He's going to keep calling."

"He stopped for a few months," she grunts before picking up her phone. "What?" she snaps in a very Olivia-esque manner.

"You picked up. Since you ignored my other three calls, I guess this is progress," Fitz says on the other end. His light-hearted attitude makes her even more irritated.

"I only picked up to tell you to stop calling," Abby retorts.

"Look, I get it. I'm sorry I didn't handle things better after you told me..." Fitz begins.

Abby chuckles dryly. "Yeah, okay," she says, not believing him. "Look, I'm in the middle of something, so do me a favor and let's skip the part where you act like you care about how things ended between us and get straight to why you really called. I don't talk to Olivia, I haven't talked to Olivia since a few days days after the inauguration, so if she's not taking your calls I can't help you."

Fitz chuckles. "I didn't call to talk about Olivia," he insists.

"Right..." Abby says sarcastically.

"I talk to Olivia almost every night," he says, to her surprise. "She usually calls me before she goes to bed. She oddly seems more interested in my boring life up here than in talking about her very exciting life down there, but she ...wait, why don't you talk to her anymore? Did you two have another falling out?" he asks, concerned.

Abby rolls her eyes, amused and annoyed that Fitz can't stop yapping about Olivia despite professing that he didn't call to talk about her. "Let me make something clear," she says dryly. "I don't work for you anymore. Which means keeping you up to date on what's going on with Olivia is no longer part of my job description. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to things that are part of my job description, like figuring out how to keep the lights on here now that she's gone," she snaps, hanging up. Quinn is staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" Abby asks tartly.

"Nothing, it's just...there aren't too many people who would hang up on the former leader of the free world," Quinn says.

Abby shrugs. "Look, you're obviously not ready to make nice with Liv, so Huck and I will go talk to her and try to smooth things over," she offers. Quinn doesn't look happy about this. "No, I'll do it," she agrees reluctantly. "I think it has to be me."

* * *

Quinn drives to the White House, preparing to suck it up and try to make nice with Liv like she promised. But as she gets close, a montage of voices starts playing in her head:

 _LIV: I certainly don't owe you an explanation for anything!_

 _HUCK: Liv asked me to do something...something I really, really don't want to do._

 _HARRISON: She's not one of the good guys, she's the best guy._

 _LIV: I'm selfish because I can be!_

 _QUINN: My Olivia rocks the boat because no one else will. That's my Olivia. But she's not here anymore._

Suddenly, Quinn does a u-turn at the intersection of 16th and I.

* * *

 **ROWAN'S DINOSAUR WORKSHOP - DAY 51**

Rowan is examining a piece of dinosaur skull when Quinn walks in.

"Do you still want to hire us?" she asks.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter. As a reward, here is another one. FYI, Luis the agent is named for Luis Alberto Aracena, who actually plays one of Fitz's secret service agents (pre and post presidency) and has been awesome about tweeting from the set on Instagram._

* * *

 **DAY 51 - EVENING**

"Luis, one of my new agents, tried to explain to me how to bill the Secret Service every time we go somewhere on my plane. Apparently I'm entitled to charge the agency for their seats," Fitz explains to Liv over the phone.

"You are," Liv says cautiously. "But from an optics perspective, it might not be the best move."

"I don't care about the optics. I find it offensive. They're putting their lives on the line to protect me and I'm supposed to charge them for doing their jobs? If anyone asks your press secretary, you can tell her that I'm waiving any right to payment for riding on my plane."

"Okay, I will," Liv says with a smile. Fitz's attitude about this is yet another reminder of why she loves him so much.

"So I finally talked to Abby yesterday, well, sort of. I was calling to see if I could hire your old firm to do some PR work for the Foundation, but we didn't get that far because Abby's still mad at me and I guess I can't blame her."

"I'm sorry," Liv says regretfully.

"For what? How is it your fault that Abby doesn't want to talk to me? You're the one who told me I should have the tough conversation with her instead of blowing her off the way I did."

"No, that's not what I meant. You want to hire my old firm because you're frustrated that every time you've tried to do an interview and talk about the foundation, all they want to talk about is me, right?"

"Liv, stop," Fitz scolds. "The way you kissed me before I got on Marine One...I meant what I said in the last interview. I wouldn't change that for the world."

Liv smiles.

"So everything's okay with you and Abby?" Fitz asks.

"Yeah, as far as I know. Why?"

"She said you don't talk anymore. Did you have a falling out?"

"No, I've just been busy and I assumed she had too."

"What about the rest of your old team?"

Liv sighs, not wanting to talk about this. "I've talked to Huck a few times. But we mostly...we just run in different circles now."

Fitz looks concerned. "Are you okay with me hiring them? I guess I should have asked you first."

"Of course. Do you want Quinn's number? I'm pretty sure she won't hang up on you."

"No, I don't want to cause tension. If Abby doesn't want to work with me then I'm not going to go around her. Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Politico called for comment about a story that I changed the FAA definition of "small plane" from 12,500 pounds to 15,000 pounds to enable myself to fly my plane without a co-pilot. It's not true. I did have the FAA change the definition of small plane because manufacturers were skimping on safety equipment to make faster planes while staying under the 12,500 threshold, but I already had an exemption to fly the plane single pilot under the old standard. I explained that to the reporter."

"Did you tell her you installed a flight simulator in the White House basement so you could keep up with the recurrent training requirements while you were president?"

"Yes. I just want to be able to show that I complied with all the requirements like any other person would have to do. Maybe I'm being silly, but I don't want people to think I got special treatment. The problem is, most of my flight records are either in Santa Barbara or in the GPO archives office where they're still going through all my papers to determine which are public record. I hate to ask, but do you think you could help expedite the process of getting my file from the FAA so I can nip this nonsense in the bud?"

"Of course," Liv agrees.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" he asks.

"I'm sure I don't mind," she insists. "Consider it handled."

* * *

 **DAY 52**

"How did it go yesterday?" Abby asks eagerly. "With Liv? How did it go?" she prompts.

"Oh, I...couldn't get in to see her," Quinn says. "They said her schedule was jam packed. I'm going to try again today. Plus, since I had the extra time I decided to make her this as a peace offering," she says, holding up a little keychain with a gladiator action figure, to which Quinn added a peplum suit made out of felt.

"Cute," Abby says with a smile. "Look, I was thinking. You don't have to pay me until we get more clients. In fact, I can pay everyone until then."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Look, I know you're trying to help, but nobody wants to be paid with blood money that almost got Huck killed. Besides, we're okay for now."

"How are we okay for now? We have less than $200 left in the firm account."

"I realized we had a couple jobs from before that never got invoiced," she says hastily.

Abby looks suspicious but doesn't push the issue.

* * *

"I just have a bad feeling," Liv explains to Jake as they walk through the halls of the White House.

"You want me to abuse the resources of my office, again, to figure out who Fitz's new agents are and vet them because you have a bad feeling?" Jake asks.

"Just look up all the agents who are licensed pilots qualified to fly a small jet. That should narrow it down a lot."

Jake sighs, exasperated.

"Jake, you know as well as I do that when my father ran B613, he had people embedded in the Secret Service."

"So what? He's not in charge anymore. You are."

"Which is why I want to know if either of the new agents has any B613 ties or any other suspicious ties. And it's not an abuse of your office. Can you honestly rule out the possibility of my father or someone else embedding someone in Fitz's detail as a way of trying to control me?"

Jake shakes his head, annoyed. "No, I guess I can't. You made sure of that by making that big scene the day he left. And now you continue to make him a target by calling him every night, increasing the chances that he's going to find out more than he should. To what end, I don't know, because you're not going to walk away from all of this and move to Vermont. Maybe you're hoping he'll get bored up there and move back to DC, but then what? Are you going to let him in on everything you've done since he left? Are you going to lead a double life to keep him in the dark? Come on, Liv. For his sake and yours, you've got to let go."

Olivia is visibly agitated. "Just do what I say, now!" she snaps at him.

"Whatever you say, boss," Jake snarls.

* * *

 **DAY 54**

Liv is sitting in her office reading the texts she just got from Fitz.

 _"Is everyone ok?"_

 _"Sorry, meant everything. Is everything ok? I didn't hear from you last night."_

As she contemplates how to respond, someone knocks on her door.

"Come in!"

She is surprised to see Quinn.

"I come in peace," Quinn says quickly. "In fact, I came to apologize."

"For what?"

"For picking a fight the day after the inauguration..." Quinn says incredulously.

"Oh, right. Don't worry about it," Liv says nonchalantly.

"So, you're not mad? You haven't been freezing us out because you're mad?"

"No. I've just been busy."

Quinn looks surprised. "Okay, well, I brought you a gift, well, two little gifts, that were supposed to be a congratulations/send off gift. I made it a while ago and I was going to give it to you your first day here, but I was mad over something that I realize now I blew way out of proportion."

Liv opens the gift bag and smiles when she opens the first present, a picture of the original OPA team, with Marcus and Charlie superimposed so the picture reflects the whole team, past and present. She laughs when she sees the second gift, a keychain with a mini gladiator action figure, which Quinn outfitted with a miniature peplum suit.

"It's kind of cheesy, but I thought it might inspire you," Quinn says.

Liv smiles. "I like it," she says, attaching it to her keychain. "Thank you. And congratulations to you too. How far along are you?"

"About four months," she tells Liv. "And thanks. How did you know? I didn't think I was showing yet under my suit."

"You're not. I figured it out and Abby confirmed it. I've been meaning to call to congratulate you, but I've..."

"Been really busy, I get it."

"Ms. Pope, you asked me to remind you about that two o'clock meeting..." her secretary says through the door.

"Sorry, I have to get back to work," Liv says hastily. "Let me see if I can get you and the rest of the team an invitation to the state dinner tomorrow night. It'll give us a chance to catch up," Liv says.

"I'd like that, thanks," Quinn says. The encounter went much better than she expected, and suddenly she looks conflicted. She sneaks back towards Liv's office after Liv walks out and considers going in, but backs away when she hears someone coming.

When she gets to her car, she calls Rowan. "It's done," she tells him.

* * *

 **DAY 55**

"Come on, it's time to go," Quinn urges Abby. The whole team is dressed up for the state dinner.

"You guys go ahead, I'll be along," Abby says.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I have a potential lead I want to follow up on."

"Okay, just don't be too late. You're the only one of us who most people there know."

Abby waits for them to leave, then takes another look at the invoices she had on her screen. They are addressed to a Damascus Bainbridge under the title "Operation Seneca." Most of the entries on the invoice are from January 17-20, but contrary to what Quinn said, it looks like those invoices were already paid. Abby keeps clicking through and notices another entry, billed to Operation Seneca, dated the day before today, that appears to have already been paid.

Now sure that Quinn is hiding something from her, she goes into her office and sits down at her computer, but Quinn logged out before leaving. But as Abby gets up she notices packaging for some sort of electronic device in Quinn's trash. She looks closer and is shocked to discover that the packaging is for some sort of micro recording device. Under the packaging, she sees the extra felt from the little peplum suit Quinn was making.


	7. Chapter 7

_I wrote most of this before 701 aired, but I decided to incorporate a few tidbits from the episode. Like in the real season premiere, Liv has to make her toughest choice yet, but this time the choice is a lot closer to home for her. This story has taken a slightly different path than I envisioned, but I hope you like it. Like the real 701, Fitz is only in this chapter for a second, but it's a moment that makes a world of difference. This chapter also includes a hint about what Liv asked Huck to do the night after the inauguration. I hope you enjoy and please review._

* * *

 **STATE DINNER - EVENING - DAY 55 - 8 PM**

"Huck, what's Operation Seneca?" Abby asks Huck discretely. The dinner is winding down.

"Does this mean you're actually talking to me?" Huck asks.

"What do you mean? I've never not been talking to you."

"You've been avoiding me since you came back, and I know why," Huck says.

"I haven't...can you just tell me what Operation Seneca is?"

"It's what we called the project we did for Liv's father right before the inauguration, to find out who her mother was working for. We called it Seneca after Seneca Falls, because the goal was to prevent disruption of the inauguration of the first female president."

"Did Liv's father pay us directly?"

"I think so, under an alias. He wanted to keep the operation off the books. I think he has some way to get reimbursed by the government through a slush fund, but I don't know exactly how it works. Why?"

"Just curious. I was going through old Timeslips to make sure we hadn't forgotten to bill for anything." Abby thinks for a minute and then becomes alarmed when she sees Quinn talking to Liv in the corner of the room.

Abby approaches them and is horrified to hear that Quinn appears to be trying to bait Liv into saying something about Luna Vargas by telling her that someone tried to access the autopsy and asking Liv if she wants QPA to do something about it.

Before Liv can answer, Abby loses her balance and spills red wine on Liv's white shoe.

"Oh my gosh! Liv, I'm so sorry!" she cries out. Liv looks annoyed and confused. "Um, look, do you still have the little basket of 18-hour-day survival tools I left for you in your office? I think I might have a stain pen in there. I'll help you," she offers. Liv starts to protest that it won't work, but sees the look on Abby's face and reluctantly follows her. Quinn glares at Abby, realizing what is going on.

* * *

"Since when did you become so clumsy?" Liv asks Abby as they walk down the hall. Abby shakes her head and puts her hand up to her lips, signaling Liv to be quiet.

When they enter Liv's office, Abby's old office, Abby immediately notices the picture of the OPA team on Liv's desk.

"Nice picture."

"Thanks. Quinn brought it by yesterday. Abby, what's going on?" Liv asks suspiciously as Abby picks up the picture frame and starts taking it apart.

Abby again signals to her to be quiet. When she finishes taking apart the picture frame, she holds up a little microchip for Liv to see. Liv looks shocked and confused.

"Can I see your keychain?" Abby asks.

Bewildered, Liv digs into her purse and hands Abby her keys.

Abby quickly finds the gladiator keychain and a pair of scissors and starts chopping the keychain up. Liv looks horrified as Abby finds another recording chip.

"What..." Abby signals to Liv to wait before speaking. She walks around the corner, where she knows there is a little kitchen area, and puts both recorders in the microwave.

"Okay. We should be good now," Abby says as she surveys the damaged chips.

"Abby, what the hell is going on?" Liv demands.

"I'm sorry," Abby says hastily. "I realized what Quinn was doing and I had to stop you from falling into her trap."

"What the hell was she doing? Why was she spying on me?"

"I don't know. I think..."

"You think what?" Liv demands.

Abby sighs. "She's been fixated on Luna Vargas."

"What?" Liv asks, startled but trying to play it cool.

"She thinks you had something to do with her death and in her heightened emotional state she's upset about her kids losing both of their parents. I thought I had convinced her to let it go but I guess not...also, I don't know if this is related, but it looks like your father paid us more money yesterday for Operation Seneca."

Liv's is even more shellshocked when she hears that last part.

"Look, DON'T say anything. I don't need to know. Did you say anything to Quinn about it before I came over?"

Olivia shakes her head no. "Okay, good. I'm going to go back to the office with Huck now and destroy anything she might have gotten from these chips and do whatever I have to to get Quinn to back off. I've got your back, okay?" Abby reassures Liv, to Liv's surprise. For a second Liv looks grateful, but then her eyes flash with anger as she processes what Abby told her.

"No. You do nothing. I'll handle it," Liv orders.

"What do you mean you'll handle it?" Abby becomes anxious when she sees the look on Liv's face. "Liv, she's pregnant. She's emotional and she thinks she's doing what you asked her to do when you handed over the firm. I won't let her hurt you but you have to promise me you won't hurt her," Abby begs.

"I said I'll handle it," Liv says firmly in a tone that terrifies Abby as she walks out.

* * *

 **LIV'S OFFICE - NIGHT 55 - 9:30 PM**

"You're clear," Jake tells Liv as he finishes scanning her office with a handheld scanner. "There are no other bugs in here."

Liv nods, still shaken up. "I don't think I need to tell you that we still have a major problem," Jake says.

"I told you. I didn't say anything. Abby spilled wine on me before I could," Liv says anxiously.

"That's not the point," Jake urges. "We still have a serious security breach. Have you said anything else since yesterday that anyone could us against you?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking..." Liv says, too shaken up to think straight. Recognizing this, Jake pulls up her calendar of meetings. "Here we go. Yesterday you had that meeting with Senator Michaels. Wasn't he the one you had me dig up dirt on to get him to vote for the education bill?"

Liv nods. "It's okay. That's not what Quinn's looking for."

"You don't know what she's looking for! You do know that she recorded you blackmailing a United States senator."

Olivia nods acknowledgment. "Fine. Send one of our people over there posing as a new client. Have the person give Quinn some files to look at on a flash drive - for her eyes only. The flash drive will contain a worm that wipes out her system and any backups that might have been made. You know their system well enough to do that, right?"

"I think so, but that's not enough and you know it."

"They're anxious for clients and I'll think they'll buy it."

"Even if it works, even assuming Quinn didn't make any copies or share it with anyone already, even assuming she's stupid enough to go back to the office instead of hiding, all of which are big assumptions, she betrayed you. You can't just let that go."

"No!" Liv says firmly when she realizes what Jake is suggesting.

"Liv..."

"I said no!" Liv snaps.

"Alright look. We don't have to kill her. But you at least need to have her interrogated, find out what she knows and whether she told anyone anything that could incriminate you. Then you need to throw her in the hole for at least a couple weeks to strike some fear of g-d in her."

"I said no," she says angrily.

* * *

 **QPA - NIGHT 55 - 9:30 PM**

Abby is trying combination after combination trying to get into the safe. She reaches for her phone and calls Huck for the 10th time in the past hour.

"Huck, it's me. You were right, okay. I was avoiding you before, because I still blame myself for what happened to you. But right now I need you to stop avoiding me, because I really need your help. It's not for me, it's for Liv. Please, just call me back," she begs.

* * *

 **ROWAN'S DINOSAUR WAREHOUSE - NIGHT 55 - 9:30 PM**

We are surprised to see Charlie lead a visibly scared Quinn into the warehouse.

"Any word from Jake yet?" Quinn asks.

"No," Rowan says sadly.

"Wait, there's no chance he's going to actually hurt me, right?" Quinn asks, anxious for reassurance.

"I had you come here to account for that possibility, but I don't expect it will be a problem. Jake's not liking the new dynamic at work since she became the boss. Olivia will soon learn that loyalty is something you must continue to earn."

* * *

 **LIV'S OFFICE - NIGHT 55 - 9:35 PM**

"Liv, I know this is tough, but if you don't do it the rest of the agents won't fear you like you need them to. I give you my word, I won't give her any lasting injuries," Jake says.

"Yes, I can. If I do it right she won't..."

"Damn it, Jake, she's four months pregnant!" Liv interjects.

Jake sighs, understanding the complication. "Pregnant or not, that doesn't change the fact that she's out to get you and she needs to be stopped."

"She's not out to get me. When I gave her the firm I told her she'd have to go up against me sometimes. She's doing what I asked her to do."

"I'm pretty sure you never asked her to throw you to the wolves to collect a paycheck from your father."

"We don't know that that's why she did it," Liv argues. "We don't know that the two events are even related."

"You're right, we don't. But if she's out for justice, that's even worse. Best case, your father's testing you to prove to you that you're not tough enough to be Command. Worst case, you go to prison for blackmailing a senator and g-d knows what else and destroy Mellie's presidency in the process. Come on, Liv. I know this isn't pleasant. But I warned you when you took this on that it was going to involve some tough calls. And to be honest, this isn't even a tough call. This is you clinging to your naive assumption that your old team will continue to be loyal to you even when you're not the one paying them and taking care of them."

Liv pauses, her resolve weakened by Jake's speech. "So do I have the green light?" Jake asks.

"No. Not yet."

"Liv, every minute we waste..."

"I said not yet!" she snaps.

"Fine. I've already got my team tracking her, so we should be able to avoid losing her even if she tries to hide. I'm going to make this a little easier for you. I'll give you an hour so you can at least feel like you struggled with the decision. I'll have our people grab Quinn at 10:30 unless you give me orders to the contrary. I'll even go with them myself to make sure they don't go too far."

"Jake..." she protests, but he is already walking away.

Liv starts to go after him but stops. She slumps down in her seat and gulps down a large glass of scotch as she stares at the photo of her old team. Would they really betray her? Was she wrong to assume that they'd be loyal after she left?

Her mind drifts back to the conversation she had with Huck the night after Mellie's inauguration.

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK - DAY 2**_

 _"You're asking too much this time," Huck protests._

 _"Huck, I'm sorry," she says softly. "But I need you to do this and I'm not asking."_

 _Huck shakes his head. "I can't," he protests._

 _"There are lines I cannot cross," she says tearfully. "This is the only way I can be sure I'll never cross them."_

 _"So what? If I don't agree to do it you'll throw me in the hole?"_

 _"Huck, I don't want to threaten you," she pleads. "But you know how this works."_

 _Huck is stunned. "Okay, I'll do it," he agrees reluctantly. "But if you're going to make me do this, you can't be Olivia Pope to me anymore. If you're going to be Command you'll just be Command to me. You have to just be Command to me because that's the only way I'll be able to do what you want me to do. If you order me to do this...you're one of them now," he says sadly._

 _Olivia nods. "I...I understand," she says softly. It breaks her heart but she has to stay firm in her resolve._

* * *

 **LIV'S OFFICE - NIGHT 55 - 9:35 PM**

Liv's phone rings, jolting her out of her reverie.

"Ms. Pope, the president needs you in the situation room," her secretary tells her.

Liv reluctantly gets up and walks toward the Situation Room.

* * *

 **SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT 55 - 9:40 PM**

"What's going on?" Liv asks as she enters, but her tone lacks her usual in-command confidence.

The room starts spinning and we hear a montage of voices in the background explaining the situation. The voices are a blur, but give us (and Liv, who is in a bit of a daze) just enough to understand what is going on: the CIA got intelligence that a previously trustworthy confidential informant in Saudi Arabia may now be working against the United States after spending 6 months at a religious seminary that is known for advocating terrorism.

The military advisers whose voices we hear in the background are split: some advocate taking action against the potential target, arguing that they have no way to verify his allegiance until it's too late. On the other side are those who urge caution, arguing that if they take action and they are wrong, they not only lose a loyal asset but scare away other potential informants.

From the clock on the computer screen in the Situation Room, we see 15 minutes go by, then another 15, then another 10.

Liv's phone buzzes, and she looks down at it anxiously. To her relief, it's a text from Fitz with a picture of chopped up carrots in the food processor and the message "got it right." She can't help but smile despite how stressed she is. The clock on her phone now reads 10:24.

"Liv?" Mellie prompts, jolting her again. "Liv!" Mellie says again more forcefully.

"Yeah? I'm sorry," Liv says hastily.

"Care to weigh in?" Mellie asks, annoyed and bewildered by Liv's unusual spaciness.

"Right. Sorry. Admiral, other than the photo of him standing next to Ben Khalidi coming out of the seminar, is there any other evidence Razid is working against us?"

"No specific evidence, but there was a 10-day period back in February when he went off the grid and we weren't able to track him," Admiral Brigoli says.

"That's it?" Liv asks. "Do we have any other evidence to suggest this man, a man who has been a reliable source of intel in the past, suddenly turned against us?"

"Well no, but we've seen this pattern before, and we didn't find out the informant was working against us until..."

Liv shakes her head and cuts the admiral off. "No. That's not enough. We wait."

A male military officer pipes up. "Madam President, with all due respect, if we wait we risk losing him..."

Mellie considers for a moment. "Liv's right. There's not enough intel to go after a previously loyal asset. If you want to do this, get me more," she tells the officers. "Until then, we wait."

"Yes ma'am," they say, standing up as Mellie exits the room.

Liv gets up to follow her, but gasps when she sees the clock on the computers. It is now **10:27** , three minutes before Jake's deadline to call off his plan to grab Quinn and interrogate her.

"Liv, are you coming?" Mellie asks when she realizes Liv isn't right behind her.

"I'll be there in a second," Liv calls out shakily. Mellie tries to ask her what's going on, but she ducks into a corridor and pulls out her phone, silently panicking as she waits for the encrypted call to connect.

"Jake, STAND DOWN!" she whispers, the anxiety palpable in her voice.


End file.
